<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Weight of Family and the Pull of Gravity by phlebotinxm</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26839168">The Weight of Family and the Pull of Gravity</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/phlebotinxm/pseuds/phlebotinxm'>phlebotinxm</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Happy Ever After [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bobbi Morse &amp; Jemma Simmons Friendship, Bringing HuntingBird Back Because That's What We Deserved, F/M, Leo Fitz &amp; Lance Hunter Friendship, Meet the Family, Post-Finale, Post-Season/Series 07 Finale, Spoilers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 12:35:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,380</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26839168</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/phlebotinxm/pseuds/phlebotinxm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em> In early February, Bobbi received a cryptic text message from a number she didn’t recognize. It contained a picture, and Bobbi anxiously nibbed at her bottom lip as she waited for it to charge. And when the image finally appeared, she let out a shaky breath.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I asked you one day if the ride was worth it,” the message read, “now I know it was.” </em>
</p><p>Post season 7, the FitzSimmons bring old friends back into their lives.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lance Hunter/Bobbi Morse, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Happy Ever After [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1938604</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>91</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Weight of Family and the Pull of Gravity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>well hello again!<br/>I have no single excuses for this, apart from the fact that I really, really wanted bobbihunter to meet the fitzsimmons family. </p><p>this work takes place in my "happy ever after" series, so make sure to check it out before you read this one! it's not mandatory, but you might understand this one better if you do. </p><p>once again, this work is unbeta'd, and english isn't my first language. I'm very sorry for all the eventual mistakes you'll find in this work. the title is from "Heirloom", from Sleeping at Last. </p><p>don't hesitate to let me know if you liked it! xx</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Bobbi woke up sweaty, tangled in messy sheets. An arm was carelessly thrown around her middle, keeping her close to another burning hot body, keeping her as close as possible to the man by her side. Hunter had fallen asleep curled up against her, as he very often did these days, which resulted in Bobbi’s current predicament. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although she couldn’t see her ex husband from where his head was nestled on her shoulder, as close to her breasts as possible —some things never changed— Bobbi could imagine the expression of pure relaxation on his face, something she got to see more and more these days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ever since they’d left SHIELD four years ago, it felt like their relationship had taken a fresh start. Hunter had often told her that SHIELD took way too much place in her life and their relationship, and although she’d never admit it, he might have made some points. They still had their ups and downs, sometimes going their own ways for a few weeks before inadvertently finding their way back to each other, but their relationship had never been as healthy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Stroking a hand up and down his spine as he slept soundly, Bobbi reached out with her free hand to grab the cell phone she’d left on the nightstand. It was a brand new one, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she might have been able to keep it for a little while. They were still technically on the run, but most of the government agencies had stopped following them around the year before, and most of the cataclysmic events that happened around the globe took most of their attention anyway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Making sure she wasn’t disturbing Hunter, who tended to be a heavy sleeper for such a gifted agent, Bobbi punched her sim code and waited for the signal to flood back into her mobile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>— </span>
  <b>1 new message</b>
  <span> — </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her heart skipped a beat when she realized that she had a pending notification. Ever since they’d left SHIELD, she and Hunter had been on the run for years before finally allowing themselves more than a couple of weeks in each town they ended up in. This rhythm didn’t allow any kind of friendships or professional relationships for that matter, and close to no one had that number. Sliding her thumb on the screen to unlock it, Bobbi exhaled through her nose and clicked on the message application. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The message was from a number she didn’t recognize, something that didn’t surprise her in the slightest. But what was even weirder was the fact that it contained a picture, and Bobbi anxiously nibbed at her bottom lip as she waited for it to charge. And when the image finally appeared, she let out a shaky breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no mistaking babies’ tiny feet as they lay on what looked like a hand knitted blanket. From the angle of their legs, the babies looked like they’d been arranged side by side for the picture, that only allowed Bobbi to see up to their knees. One of the children was wearing white little trousers —adorable ones, if Bobbi said so herself, but it might have to do with the tiny size of it— while the other was sporting green ones. When the picture was a rather adorable one, Bobbi found herself quite confused. Was it possible for someone they didn’t know to have sent this picture, mistyping one of their friends or family member’s numbers and sending it to her instead? But just as she raised her thumb once more to delete the message, another one followed the picture. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I asked you one day if the ride was worth it,” </span>
  </em>
  <span>the message read, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“now I know it was.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>And suddenly, it all became perfectly clear. Her hand stilled against Hunter’s back, and Bobbi couldn’t help but let out a little giggle of pure glee. Against her, Hunter stirred, but Bobbi was too busy clicking on the picture one more time to look at it with a totally different gaze. All of a sudden, the knitted blanket strangely resembled the one she’d seen once in Fitz’s room, that his mother had made for him when he’d left for the Academy. She remembered asking about it once, during those painfully long months Jemma had spent on Maveth. Fitz had told her a lot of things, late at night when it was just the two of them, and she internally cursed herself for not realizing it sooner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bob?” Hunter mumbled, his voice still rough with sleep. “What’s going on?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In lieu of a reply, Bobbi shoved the phone in front of his face, contorting herself to be able to see the look on his face. However, she’d forgotten how slow Hunter could be in the morning as he squinted at the screen with a confused expression. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Someone’s had babies?” he asked, looking up at her from over the device. “What’s… who’s that? Why are you showing me baby pictures?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lance” Bobbi pressed, barely repressing an eyeroll. “Who do you think would send us a picture of baby feet at 8 in the morning?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, I don’t know? A distant cousin?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobbi sighed, lowering the phone. “You’re lucky you’re cute.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not forgetting you said that.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll deny it until the day I die. Now, focus.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hunter huffed, falling on his back on the bed, pressing his fists against his eyes. “I’m not even awake yet, why are you taunting me with this?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because two of your favorite people in the world just had babies.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Two of my favorite people… Bob, you know I only use this precise term when I’m talking about—” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, he froze, opening his eyes to stare at her in shock. “Fitz???” he exclaimed, sitting up in a jump. “Is this… are they…?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Between them, the phone vibrated once more, and their gazes both fell on the device as yet another message appeared on screen. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“15-3 Huntington Street, Pershire. All safe, now. I think you’ve got a few people to meet... -J.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobbi grinned. “I think Jemma just made the world’s most original birth announcement.” </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>It had taken a couple of hours for them to check out from the motel they’d been staying at for the past week and jump into the car they’d rented for the occasion. All the while, Bobbi had to deal with an overexcited Hunter and his various “I told you so”, priding himself on choosing England for their latest destination. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m just saying,” he told her as they finally drove away from the motel, both equally anxious to see their friends again “that if we’d chosen Maryland like you suggested, we wouldn’t be a few hours’ drive from them.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobbi let him, but only because she was just as excited to see Fitz and Jemma after so long. It had been a little over four years since they’d last seen each other, and she rarely let herself think about them enough to miss them viscerally. She’d learn during their first year that memories hurted just as bad as open wounds sometimes, and they’d agreed to shut their precious memories of the team that became their family down not to suffer too much. When Hunter had seen Fitz again, she wasn’t around to go help him, and she’d beaten herself over it for months. The only consolation she had had from this was learning that Fitz and Jemma had finally gotten their shit together, and officially gotten together. The joy of knowing their friends had taken this big step had almost drowned out her regret not to have seen him again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But now here they were, on their way to Scotland of all places. She remembered Jemma confessing once that she’d always dreamed of moving there as a kid, and Bobbi should have known that Jemma Simmons wasn’t one to give up her dreams. Glancing at the picture —that she’d saved this time—, she felt her heart squeeze warmly in her chest. She was so happy for them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t believe they had babies” Hunter said after a few miles, spent mostly in comfortable silence. Bobbi’s hand was on his leg, and she was absently rubbing her thumb against the seam of his jeans. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, you didn’t think they would?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh I knew they would!” Hunter snorted. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. “Some people are meant to be together, you know? I just never thought… I didn’t think they’d go this fast, that’s all.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobbi hummed. “They’ve known each other since they were sixteen. I’m surprised it took them so long to get together, but not so surprised about the kids.” She glanced at the countryside outside of the window, feeling her throat close up a little. “As you said, some people are just meant to be together.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They fell silent after that, and Bobbi allowed herself to drift off to sleep at some point. They had a little over 5 hours to get to their destination, and the excitement of the morning had taken its toll on her. She woke up to a hand cradling her cheek tenderly, and she blinked sleep out of her eyes when she realized that they were arriving near their destination.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The little town looked quiet, beautiful and typical houses spreading on each side of the main road. Bobbi looked at the markets, the people walking around with their kids and pets, and felt her lips stretch into a smile. The town looked so utterly </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jemma</span>
  </em>
  <span> that she had no doubts they were on the right road. When typical architecture left way to more trees and public parks, both Bobbi and Hunter looked around in confusion. But soon enough, they were faced with another, smaller road, leading to a sizable cottage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bob” Hunter said, tapping her shoulder. “D’you think…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leaving the car at the entrance of the small garden, they walked up to the front door in quick strides. Impatience cursed through Bobbi’s veins as she knocked, and they both looked at each other in silence as they waited. Behind the door, they could hear a childish laughter, followed by a louder voice, but before they could even process it, the door swung open.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alya” Fitz’s familiar voice boomed from behind the little girl who had opened the door, looking at them with shiny and familiar blue eyes. “What did I tell you about opening the door to strangers?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, Fitz appeared from behind the child —Alya—, grabbing her by the waist and hoisting her up his shoulder. Alya let out a shriek of laughter, her head falling backwards in the movement. Bobbi couldn’t help but stare at Fitz for a few moments. The last time they’d seen each other, Fitz was still a shy if not awkward scientist, pining in silence for his best friend. There was no trace of this man as she looked at him now. His hair was long enough to curl in a way Bobbi had never seen before, and he had a matching messy stubble that made him look older than she remembered him. But something about the laugh lines around his eyes told her that it might not have only been the stubble, and Bobbi was suddenly hit with how long it had been since they’d last seen each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey guys” Fitz said, filling the silence that was stretching between them. “Wanna come in?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, Fitz.” Hunter finally blurted out, his eyes never leaving the little blonde girl wriggling against Fitz’s shoulder, “I think there’s a kid who looks an awful lot like you in your arms.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fitz rolled his eyes, barely repressing a smile as he fought to keep Alya from wriggling out of his arms. “Yeah, Hunter. That’s what happens when two people love each other very much—“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Alright” Jemma interrupted, appearing from behind Fitz’s shoulder, pressing a kiss against his cheek lovingly. “That’s enough talk at the door and in front of our children. How about letting them in?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just like Fitz, the Jemma who faced them at this very moment had very little to do with the one Bobbi remembered leaving at the bar, eyes filled with tears. She looked a little older, her long hair falling in waves around her face and framing tired but shiny eyes as she looked upon them, lips stretched into a smile. There was very little left of the scared young woman who’d come back from Maveth traumatized and unsure what to do with her feelings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they walked inside in silence after hugging a little tearfully, still too stunned to be able to properly form sentences —a first for Hunter, Bobbi noted— they were greeted by a small cry coming from the other end of the spacious living room they’d just walked into. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, that’s my cue” Jemma apologized with a chuckle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She walked away from them and towards a small crib Bobbi hadn’t noticed when she’d first walked in, right next to the couch and what looked like a small playground on a fluffy carpet. The atmosphere of the house was so incredibly different from anything Bobbi and Hunter were used to, but at the same time so familiar and welcoming that they felt at ease immediately. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t get it,” Hunter eventually said, waving around. His eyes were nearly as wide as Bobbi’s, which was saying something coming from someone who liked to claim he could never be taken by surprise. “I thought… what?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fitz chuckled. “Yeah, we did keep a bit of a surprise from you guys. Honestly, I just wanted to see your faces.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finally let go of Alya, the little girl running straight to her mother as soon as her feet touched the floor, bending over the crib next to Jemma as she stood on her tiptoes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How old is she?” Bobbi asked as Fitz straightened, giving in and asking the question that had been burning her tongue from the moment she’d laid eyes on the child. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, she just turned five.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Five?” Hunter said. “That’s not possible. We left the team four years ago.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The engineer balanced his weight from one feet to the other, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Yeah, well. A lot happened.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh no. You guys messed up with time again didn’t you?” Hunter all but whined. “Man, I thought the cryo pod was the craziest thing I’d have to deal with when it comes to you two.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jemma snorted, and it was only then that Bobbi noticed the babe she was cradling against her chest, rocking them slowly to ease their cry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We did” she confirmed, eyes soft as she looked down at Alya, the little girl still haunched over the crib. With one hand, she ruffled her hair, catching her attention for a split second. “Come on sweet girl, why don’t you go sit on the couch to feed your brother uh?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alya seemed delighted at the prospect, running straight to the couch and propping a pillow on her lap, like she’d probably done a hundred times before. Jemma followed her with the baby, and Fitz disappeared from Hunter and Bobbi’s sides quietly to grab a bottle they’d left on the open kitchen counter. Once the baby was propped comfortably and safely —Fitz and Jemma both took turns checking, which Bobbi found absolutely adorable— he reached out towards the bottle with grabby hands almost instantly, no doubt used to the entire set up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you owe us a lot of explanation.” Bobbi said, walking towards the couch. From where she stood, she could finally take a better look at the baby. Unlike his sister, he had curly brown hair resembling his mother’s, and the exact same nose as Jemma. She could see a little bit of Fitz too as he suckled on the bottle, little dimples in display as his eyes fluttered shut in bliss. Fitz grabbed the Tv remote to turn it on, putting on some cartoons for Alya to watch as she fed her brother. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inviting them to do the same, Jemma walked towards the kitchen. Bobbi and Hunter sat down at the dinner table opposite Fitz and Jemma, noticing the way they arranged their seat to be able to see Alya at all times. “A lot has happened in the last few years,” she began, “and even more since you two last saw each other” she mentioned Hunter and Fitz with a movement of the chin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened after the cryo pod?” Hunter asked. Bobbi could feel him buzzing with energy beside her, and she put a reassuring hand on his knee. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fitz smiled. “I got to the future. Saved the team, came back with them. It was a loop of the end of the world, and we managed to break it. But I died in the process.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobbi’s heart did a weird jump. “What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jemma realized that me coming back from the future had created a sort of paradox” Fitz kept going, looking way too relaxed regarding what he’d just told her. “Meaning that another me, the me that you put in the pod” he looked at Hunter “was still out there, frozen in space to save a future he’d already saved.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is… a lot to process.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Bobbi turned her eyes to look at him, Hunter looked a little pale. She tried squeezing his knee reassuringly, feeling the tense muscles underneath the fabric. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We know,” Jemma said, looking apologetic. “Even for us, still.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened after?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jemma found me in space, after a whole year of searching through the galaxy” Fitz spared his wife a glance, and they fell silent for a moment. A silent conversation seemed to happen through their eyes, and the sight was almost too intimate to watch. “And after being captured by a race of alien called the Chronicoms, we came home to another cataclysmic event.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Chronicoms?” Hunter pipped in “As in Enoch? The weird dude from the pod?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jemma’s face contorted into a sour expression, her eyes snapping to Fitz immediately. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Fitz’s voice was almost quiet as he replied, and Bobbi saw the way Jemma moved to grab his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “Enoch was a friend, though. Turns out, the rest of his people? Not so much.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have to say,” Bobbi whispered as she looked between the two of them,  “I don’t miss all the near death situations SHIELD put us through.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The scientists laughed in concert. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, neither do we.” Jemma confessed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She spared a glance at Alya, who was engrossed in the television. Her brother was still suckling on the bottle, eyelids heavy, and Bobbi wouldn’t be surprised if he fell asleep right here and there in no time. When she turned back and spared a fleeting glance at Jemma, the look on her face wasn’t one Bobbi had ever seen before. There was a definite softness and a sense of longing that was unfamiliar to the other woman as she looked at her children, and Bobbi felt her heart swell. When Jemma caught her eye, neither women spoke, their smiles loud enough. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We managed to avoid yet another catastrophe, but for that we had to change time, without the team knowing” Fitz kept going. His face had turned into a mask of concentration and sourness Bobbi hadn’t seen since the Monolith, and she internally braced herself for the rest of the story. “With the help of Enoch, we used a Chronicom time stream to get to another timeline, and worked on a solution to find the team.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence followed this declaration. Hunter seemed to have troubles wrapping his mind around it, and Bobbi had to admit she felt lightheaded herself. “How long did you two work on it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jemma pursed her lips. “It took us four years.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Four years. They’d spent four years by themselves, fighting time to find a way to save the world. As Bobbi looked at her friends, their laugh lines she didn’t remember seeing before and the mature way in which they held themselves, she realized they’d grown up far more than what she’d originally thought as she’d stepped into the cottage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s when Alya was born, right?” Hunter asked, throwing a glance above his shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” Fitz’s smile lit up his features. “We didn’t realize Jemma was pregnant until we were deep in space on the Zephyr, orbiting around another system and fighting to save our friends.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She was born in space?” Bobbi could keep the surprise out of her voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, she was,” Jemma said. “She’s our little star baby.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But how…?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time, it was Fitz who offered his silent support to Jemma. As their fingers linked on the table, Bobbi realized their fingers were decorated by a ring she hadn’t noticed before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Enoch and I designed a neuronal system, to make me forget about Fitz and Alya,” Jemma said, voice tight. “The Chronicoms had put us through a mind prison when we’d been captured, and they had access to our minds. We had to find a way to make sure they couldn’t find her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her gaze drifted towards her children again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You forgot about them.” Hunter realized. “To protect them, you forgot about them.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, that’s… that’s hard.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobbi couldn’t have said it better if she tried. Jemma nodded, her eyes a little watery as she swallowed audibly. “It was. But we managed. We saved the team, and the world, and we got back to her.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hunter nodded, looking around the place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Which is why you quit SHIELD.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah” Fitz said with a tight smile. “After all we’ve been through… we deserved it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if on cue, a different cry form the one they’d heard before resonated in the living-room. Alya’s eyes immediately searched for her parents, and Fitz was on his feet before Bobbi or Hunter even had time to blink. “I’ve got her.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jemma immediately relaxed, turning around to look for the second bottle she’d left on the kitchen counter. She handed it to Fitz once he walked back with the second baby, and Bobbi barely refrained a smile when she gazed upon her face. She looked just like her brother, so much that she probably couldn’t have told them apart at first glance. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should I give her the bottle, daddy?” Alya inquired from the couch, looking down with frown at her brother’s bottle. She seemed frustrated to realize that he still had half of it to drink, which made Jemma chuckle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay monkey, I’ve got this” Fitz told her as he sat down with Bobbi and Hunter again. Jemma gave him the bottle, pressing a kiss against his forehead as she sat down by his side again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you ever miss it?” Hunter wondered as he looked at them. “SHIELD, I mean.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fitz snorted loudly. “Lemme tell you,” he said as he looked down at the little girl nuzzling against his neck, still sobbing softly. “Being a dad is probably the hardest job in the world. But it’s probably my favorite, too.” He arranged his daughter in the crook of his arm, bringing the bottle to her mouth. The little babe looked more eager than her brother, latching on the bottle eagerly as soon as the tip touched her lips. </span>
  <span>Her blue eyes were fixed on her father, and Fitz seemed incapable to look away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I gotta say,” Hunter admitted with a secretive smile. “it looks good on you.” </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Later that night, once the kids were on their way to bed —for a few hours at least, judging by Fitz’s tired chuckle— the adults found themselves alone together for the first time in forever. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I cannot believe the last time we saw each other, you couldn’t even admit you liked him” Bobbi told Jemma as they put the dishes into the dishwasher, the boys still upstairs putting the kids to bed. Bobbi had arched a perfect eyebrow when Hunter had eagerly grabbed Aurora to follow Fitz and his nighttime routine, but she couldn’t deny how her heart had fluttered at the sight of her ex husband with a babe in his arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jemma chuckled in response. “Seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look at you now. Married with three kids. Who would have thought?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know,” Jemma said with an exaggerated pout “the twins weren’t exactly planned either.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you geniuses ever think about birth control?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up.” She threw her the wet apron she had put over her shoulder, Bobbi catching it mid air with a giggle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m just saying!” Bobbi kept going with a smirk “maybe you should be ready for yet another little Fitzsimmons running around the house.”  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jemma wrinkled her nose. “No thank you, three of them are enough for us. The twins aren’t even crawling around and I’m already exhausted. There’s only so much baby proofing I can do around the house in one day.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobbi could hear the smile in her voice as she talked. Not for the first time that day, she realized that although she looked terribly sleep deprived and worried over the smallest things when it came to her children, she had never seen Jemma so relaxed before. At SHIELD, their life had constantly been put on the line of danger. Eventually, it became too much, and Bobbi could understand that. When SHIELD had been the tipping point for her marriage with Hunter —more than once, actually— she also now realized how much it put on her friends’ shoulders. And not for the first time of the evening either, she realized how happy she was for them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m really happy for you two, you know?” she managed, emotions choking her throat a little. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jemma’s eyes widened a little, and she didn’t hesitate for a single second before wrapping her arms around her. “Oh, Bobbi. I’ve missed you so much. I’m so glad you’re here.”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>“And they’re gonna sleep now?” Hunter whispered, probably a little too loud he realized when James shifted in his crib, little brows frowning in displeasure. Fitz threw him a warning look from the other side of the crib, pressing a single finger to his lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hunter looked at the sleeping babes cuddled close against each other one last time before following Fitz out of the nursery. He’d never thought tiny humans could be this fascinating, but he never had the occasion to be that close to one —or two— before either. His and Bobbi’s job never really allowed them to have continuous contact with children, and he didn’t remember ever spending enough time around them to even think about how captivating they could be. Now, however, he found himself utterly fascinated by their little feet, tiny little fingers and oh so small pink lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hopefully,” Fitz said as he closed the door behind them, making sure the baby monitor was on and running, “they’ll sleep for the next two to three hours.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Man, that’s worse than stakeouts” Hunter noted with a frown. How could such tiny beings be so active? Weren’t babies supposed to sleep a lot? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fitz rubbed à tired hand against his face. “Yeah. They’re still little though, Alya managed to sleep for five to six hours straight once she was four months old, I reckon it’s gonna be a little longer with those two since they passed that age.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I still can’t believe you had three children.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fitz shook his head, amused. “You know, sometimes I can’t believe it either. Especially since we went from one to three in the blink of an eye.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Still makes a lot more sense than you babbling about being cursed though,” Hunter pointed out. He didn’t feel like coming down to the girls yet, and Fitz seemed to be in the same mood. They were propped against the wall a little farther from the kids’ bedrooms, and from where they stood, they could actually hear the girls quietly talking to each other downstairs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fitz groaned. “To  be fair, I was having a very bad day.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can give you that. Still, it was a bit much now, wasn’t it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh shut up.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fatherhood looked good on Fitz, Hunter thought as he looked at his friend a little more closely. In the rush of the afternoon and the surprise of what they’d found behind the lovely cottage door, he hadn’t taken the time to properly assert Fitz’s new look. His hair was longer than he remembered, probably needed a trim too, and his beard was a little more furnished. The bags under his eyes were prominent, but there was a shine to them that hadn’t been there a few years before. But most importantly, Hunter didn’t remember seeing Fitz this relaxed. From the moment he’d joined Coulson’s team back when Fitz couldn’t even utter a full sentence after his injury, the young man’s face had always been twisted with worry. They’d saved the world more time than anyone could count, Fitz and Jemma had both lost each other more times than anyone else on the planet probably, but all of that seemed meaningless now. Because now, the only things Fitz had to worry about were dirty diapers and crying kids in the middle of the night. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Shaking his head to shake out the emotions bubbling in his throat, Hunter smiled. “We should head back downstairs, yeah? I wouldn’t let Bob and Jemma alone for too long. Who knows what those two can come up with, left to their own device.”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Much later that night, as Hunter lay in bed in the guest’s bedroom staring at the ceiling, he risked a glance down at Bobbi. She was curled up against him, her head right against his heart, fingers gripping the sleep shirt he wore. In the years following their divorce, he’d completely pushed aside the idea of ever having children. Bobbi was it for him, no matter how frustrating that realization was. And even when they were together, having kids was a no go with their respective jobs. After joining SHIELD, and then being disavowed, there was simply no time to think about them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But seeing Fitz and Jemma with their children had woken up a strange feeling at the bottom of his stomach, one that he’d never thought he’d feel again after so long. Even now, as he lay awake listening to the quieting sobs of one of the babies as Fitz hushed them back to sleep in the middle of the night, he couldn’t think of a single reason why he and Bobbi shouldn’t have their own kids. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Bob?” he whispered, using the hand that he’d put against the small of her back to push back a few strands of hair from her forehead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her breath caught in her throat. “No.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wha’? I haven’t said anything.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can hear you thinking, Hunter.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He huffed, resisting the urge to roll away from her. He was an adult, he could do this. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was just thinking…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As I said. I could hear you thinking.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was thinking” he kept going pointedly, ignoring her. He could feel her smile against his torso, and his heart ached with how much he loved that woman. “That maybe we could have that too, you know?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobbi stayed silent for a little while. For once, Hunter had no idea what was going through her head at the very moment. For the first time in their life, they were free from any job that would put them in dangerous situations, they were free to live wherever they wanted and they knew it would take but a few phone calls for Daisy to make them a whole new identity if they wanted. Settling down was something Hunter had thought about for years now, but he’d been ready to follow Bobbi to the other end of the world first. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No” she repeated softly, burrowing her face a little further in his chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time however, Hunter couldn’t help but smile. After years and two marriages, he prided himself in knowing his wife by heart, including the sides she didn’t wanna show the world. There was no way for him to miss the slight hesitation in her voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll get you to think about it,” he said, unable to stop the smile in his voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bobbi poked him in the stomach. “Goodnight, Hunter.”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>you can find me on twitter @/keptinonzebridg! xx</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>